Return of Time Scanners

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by WMHT Web Editor on

Watch Wednesday, December 16 at 10pm & Wednesday, December 23 at 10pm on WMHT TV

The groundbreaking architectural series TIME SCANNERS, produced by Atlantic Productions, returns to PBS with three new episodes beginning Wednesday, December 9 at 10:00 p.m. ET (check local listings.) Once again, the series reveals physical and forensic history using cutting-edge technology that can “read” buildings, ruins and landscapes, allowing viewers to reach out and touch the past. Steve Burrows, one of the world’s foremost structural engineers – and the brains behind the famous Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing – returns to lead a team of investigators, including pioneering laser-scanning researchers, to unlock the secrets of the world’s greatest engineering achievements. Hosted by Dallas Campbell (“Bang Goes the Theory”), each episode provides unprecedented answers to the scientific secrets behind the historical landmarks.

Episodes

Machu Picchu | TBA

Burrows takes his team of experts to “Machu Picchu,” one of the most inaccessible cities in the world and home to an enchanted 500-year-old stone citadel. There, in the deep dense jungle of the Peruvian Andes, the team scans the iconic Inca city using cutting-edge, 3D laser-scanning technology in search of answers to the following questions: How did the Inca build a city atop a mountain ridge? How were the terraces constructed? And how did they supply water to the city? The team hopes their laser scans will help decode the past.

Colosseum | Wednesday, December 16 at 10pm

On December 16, Burrows takes his team to Rome to study the historic “Colosseum” to understand what this gigantic arena once looked like and how it worked. With the help of the team from the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies at the University of Arkansas and the data they collect, Burrows is hoping to determine how the Romans created magical illusions on the stage at the Roman Games, how the roof of the Colosseum really worked and how it compares to today’s modern stadiums. The team uses their high-tech scanning equipment to build up a 3D digital model of the entire site, which will reveal any special markings that might help uncover the answers to these mysteries.

Jerusalem | Wednesday, December 23 at 10pm

The final installment, “Jerusalem,” premieres on December 23. The team sets out to explore the epic building legacy of the holy city. How do the past’s greatest buildings measure up in the 21st century? TIME SCANNERS aims to use the latest laser-scanning technology to gain a new perspective on these iconic engineering creations and, for the first time, uncover the hidden keys to their construction. From the vast walls of the Temple Mount to the manmade mountain of Herodium, they plan to use cutting- edge 21st-century technology to analyze constructions made at the time of Christ and answer the centuries-old mysteries behind their creation.